TACTICAL PREVIEW
Follow UsIn Mumbai Indians’ (MI) first match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 against Gujarat Titans (GT) on March 24 (Sunday), the focus was on how Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma would co-exist in the same team. While many are unable to digest the fact that Rohit was is longer their captain, those noises will go quiet if a few results go MI’s way. That’s not what happened against GT, but make no mistake, if any team in the IPL knows how to bounce back, it’s Mumbai.
They will be up against a Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) side who have struggled to remain relevant over the past few years, and have finished at the bottom of the table twice in the last three seasons. However, with a new captain in Pat Cummins, and a set of explosive batters, SRH are determined to turn things around.
In a way, what both teams are seeking is a turnaround, not just in the context of bouncing back from defeats but also in their quest to rewrite their history. Two points will go a long way in kick-starting that journey.
SRH vs MI Head-to-Head
Overall - Games 21 | SRH 9 | MI 12
At Hyderabad - Games 8 | SRH 4 | MI 4
Venue Details
It has been even-steven between pacers and spinners in Hyderabad, in terms of economy rate, average and strike-rate, but the former have accounted for 61.2% of the wickets at this venue in IPL since 2023. The average first innings score at this venue in this period is 174 and the team the team that has batted first has gone on to win four of the last seven matches here.
Given that this is the first match of the season in Hyderabad, the fresh pitch here might tempt the captain winning the toss to bat first, which has been the case on three occasions since IPL 2023.
Weather forecast
It’s going to be a hot day in Hyderabad with temperatures hovering between 30-34 during the match. Expect a humidity of over 40%, but the breeze could be a relief for the players. As a result, dew could be a factor while chasing. All in all, we are certain to have a full game.
Things to watch out for
Can Klaasen continue his impressive run?
Heinrich Klaasen nearly took SRH over the line in their first match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) against whom he scored 63, with eight massive sixes in his 29-ball innings. Klaasen has had a memorable year or so in T20 cricket, in which he has scored over 1,500 runs at a strike rate of 182– the second best among batters who have faced at least 500 balls in T20s since 2023.
In this period he has proved to be a menace against spin, striking at 193, and averaging a staggering 148.5. With lack of experience in the MI spin attack, we could see the South African batter feast on them once again.
How vital is Chawla for MI?
Piyush Chawla had his best IPL season last year, when he picked up 16 wickets for MI last season. In fact, he has taken more wickets (180) than the rest of the spinners in his team combined (88), further underlying how crucial his experience will be for MI, not just going into the match but also for the entire season. The leg-spinner has a superb record against two of SRH’s top three, given that he has dismissed Mayank Agarwal twice in five innings and also has got the better of Rahul Tripathi twice in eight deliveries.
MI over-reliant on Bumrah?
Jasprit Bumrah was brought into bowl a little later than expected, but in the end, he turned out to be the best bowler for his side against Gujarat Giants (GT) a few days ago. His spell of 3/14 showed what MI had missed last season.
Bumrah is one of just three bowlers to pick up at least 15 wickets in a season for seven continuous years (2016-22), one of two bowlers to have picked up at least 15 wickets in every phase since 2020 and is the most economical (7.7) bowler at the death in this period (min 20 overs).
MI also have someone like Gerald Coetzee, who they bought for INR 5 crore at the auction to support Bumrah. Since 2022, the South Africa pacer has picked up 50 wickets at a strike rate of 12.1, which is the second-best (min: 25 inns). Can Coetzee take the burden off Bumrah a tad in this game?
Probable XIs:
Suryakumar Yadav missed the first game due to an injury, but if fit, he will jump right into the XI, with Naman Dhir potentially making way. For SRH though, the question will be how long will they avoid the temptation to play Travis Head and/or Glenn Phillips in the XI and how they can potentially include them in the XI.
MI: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Naman Dhir/Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (c), Tim David, Shams Mulani, Piyush Chawla, Gerald Coetzee, Jasprit Bumrah, Luke Wood; Dewald Brewis/Kumar Kartikeya (IP)
SRH: Mayank Agarwal, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Marco Jansen, Pat Cummins (c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande, T Natarajan; Washington Sundar/Abhishek Sharma (IP)
Telecast and Streaming Details
The match will be live on Star Sports Network and live-streamed on Jio Cinema. The game will start at 7:30 PM, with the toss happening at 7 PM.
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